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My young boy nostalgia, part I
Of course, I didn’t know much during the Khmer Rouge regime in between 1975-79, I started knowing something was in late 1982 when I was unable to chew and swallow the porridge of banana trunk. This dinner image has inscribed in my mind ever since. Many people including my siblings were so skinny, infected and weary.
Sit down under a tree to protect from a scorching sun, as I looked at far distance, my mind was so imaginary. Sometime, it thought of having a nice home equipped by luxurious furniture. Sometime, it wandered far to horizon through the air as my ears heard of airplane was flying. Sometime, it desired for huge amount of money to pleasure life. Suddenly, I was shaken by a rocket explosion at the edge of Phum Dong-het. I must rush to look around if my cows are still nearby. But none I saw. All my cows were so alert and I thought they left for home already. I had to run fast back home for both security and herding the cows to avoiding from eating and destroying seeds of neighbors.
It was in 1987 when I was in grade 7, the situation at my village was so ravaged by fractional fighting especially between Khmer Rouge guerrilla and Vietnamese army. The village is comparing like a cord for the players of “tug-of-war”. Villagers were so subservient to the inquiries of both Khmer Rouge army and Vietnamese army. In the night, they had no choice but to welcome Khmer Rouge army. In the day, they have no choice but to greet Vietnamese army. But if any of these two groups come to my village on a wrong schedule, the fighting must be happening. Both sides had good quality of weaponry and guns supported by their ideological masters in this very deadly confrontational war. The villagers were the front shield for them. But I don’t think that both factions had respected the universal rule of warfare. Very often, villagers who are civil people and gun-less were shot to dead, bruised, maimed or kidnapped; grain of rice, vegetables and livestocks are target for fighting supply. More often, family that has young singled and pretty daughters must hide them from the eyes of those soldiers from both sides. As we had to work hard on the rice field in the day, some night we had to stay inside bunker or escape away for personal and live-stocks security without having a nap.
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The decision of ICJ and the invisibility of modern world
I am glad to hear about this settlement. But I am disappointed about the order to withdraw Cambodian troops from the zone. Other provisions such as Cambodia can access to the zone without disturbed and allow the zone to be mediated by ASEAN. I am not good in legal procedure, but this order seems take into account of compromise rather than legally decision-making. At the note underneath, the ICJ has been established by the UNs since 1954. So the on-going task of this organ must not be worried. But what I am worrying is the change of legal set in accordance with the change of global and regional embodiments. For instance, in 1962, the influence of ASEAN or the proportional work must not be concerned by the ICJ to harvest with regional body like the ASEAN.
Furthermore, Thailand took a wrong path of its policy regarding conflict zone and border dispute by militarizing. Thailand should operate policy in the conflict zone as well as along the border line by materializing. Vietnam has successfully operated its co-operative policy with Cambodia in its modern update of economic innovation (I think they use the term do moi in Vietnamese). Vietnam has changed the conflict zone and border theme into the zone of development and co-operation (materialization). Vietnam has gained both the existing influence they capitalized during the 1979-1990 and the economic boom achieving during their do moi policy of economic liberalization and materialization.
Of course, if we look back to the post-sponsored democratization by UNs in Cambodia, Thailand successfully injected its media, telecommunication and other businesses in Cambodia. But after the burning of Thai embassy and the coup detat in 1997, Thailand has gradually lost its confidence in capitalizing economic cooperation with Cambodia.
In tern of this imbalanced approach between Thailand and Vietnam in Cambodia, the serious question will fall upon the policy makers and leaders of Cambodia. Remember, Cambodia has been in troubles as well as lost its pieces by pieces of border territory because of the imbalanced policies towards these two countries since the pre-French colonial to post-French colonial, and it is likely to this modern Cambodia.
Cambodian ancient saying keeps remind us that “the visible enemies are not dangerous to us, but the invisible ones are”. The decision of the ICJ might consider the path to strengthening cooperation between Thailand and Cambodia more important than to make these two countries a foe with one another. And the modern world is more invisible than visible. So Cambodia needs strong leadership of genuine democratization, policy planners, learned and experienced policy strategists, good governance and the rule of laws in order to confront with the invisibility and puzzling odds of current approaches of globalization and undeniable co-operations with every partner.
Sophan
UN-Cambodia Court: Excessive secrecy, exclusion and fears of inappropriate interference
AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL
Public Statement
Index: ASA 23/004/2011
Date: 8 June 2011
- summon and question suspects, charged persons, victims or witnesses;
- seize any exhibits;
- conduct on-site visits;
- seek expert opinions; or
- seek information and assistance from any state, the UN or NGOs.
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Closing Order of Case 002 (continue…)
- 90. Based on reports from lower-ranking officials to their superiors, directives from superiors to subordinates, and requests for assistance of information that were discovered, among other evidence,254 it appears that the main inter-personal or inter-office communication was by letter, telegram and messenger. Official communication also took place in meetings and at gatherings at each administrative level as well as at larger rallies in Phnom Penh.255 Invitations to such official meetings were generally distributed by messenger or telegram. Furthermore, the CPK disseminated a number of directives and political education material throughout the country. Such material was sent from the centre to lower administrative ranks.
- 91. Letters were sent from senior CPK leaders such as POL Pot, Nuon Chea, Khieu Samphan and Ieng Sary.257 Letters were reportedly delivered through messengers to zone and sector secretaries.258 One of the telegrams sent from the Central Zone (fomer North Zone) indicates that letters were sometimes carried in person by higher officials such as Zone Secretary Ke Pork himself.259
- 92. Messengers were primarily used to deliver reports and telegrams from the radio telegraphic unit to ministries260 or for communicating information about arrests.261 Within the different zones, “Messengers carried correspondence by hand on bicycles and motorcycles. Messengers were very busy and spent only a short time in each location before returning to their home base. Messengers were not tied to one single link but worked all the different links serviced by their station”.262 One witness states that messengers from the Centre would use a speed boat to get to Kratie in Autonomous Sector 505.263
- 93. After the fall of Phnom Penh in 1975, the central telegram unit that had operated in the “liberated areas” was moved to Phnom Penh.264 About 40 children were recruited from the provinces and were taught the basic working techniques of telegram communication (coding, typing, etc.) as well as sometimes French and English.265 On 9 October 1975 the Standing Committee decided on the functioning of the telegram unit.266
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